Press Releases

$275-Million Investment in the Aerospace Industry - The Québec Government Announces Funding for a Major Project by Pratt & Whitney Canada

Investissement Québec helps finance the Longueuil facility upgrade

Longueuil, October 28, 2013 – Québec Premier Pauline Marois, accompanied by Nicolas Marceau, Minister of Finance and the Economy, announced today that Pratt & Whitney Canada has been awarded $19 million in financial aid to assist with upgrading its Longueuil plant, a move expected to create 90 jobs.

The $275-million project includes the creation of a world-class centre of excellence for intelligent manufacturing, with three automated production lines for critical components of the new generation of Pratt & Whitney USA’s PurePower® engines. The new production lines will also improve the company’s operating efficiency and minimize its carbon footprint.

“This major undertaking provides further confirmation of the strength of our aerospace cluster. Pratt & Whitney Canada’s facility in Longueuil will become more competitive and efficient. This is also a unique opportunity for Québec to develop new skills in automating production, an area that’s crucial to ensuring Québec’s manufacturing industry is competitive. My government is proud to partner with Pratt & Whitney Canada in carrying out this project,” declared Pauline Marois.

“Today’s announcement will shore up Montréal’s position as one of the world’s leading centres of cutting-edge manufacturing. Creating new, automated production lines will enable the company to maintain existing jobs and create new ones in Longueuil. What’s more, the Longueuil plant will be able to meet the growing need for critical components of PurePower® turbofan engines, a new family of engines that’s already experiencing high demand, especially for Bombardier CSeries aircraft,” noted Nicolas Marceau.

Québec’s aerospace industry employs over 40,000 people—50% of the Canadian total—at 215 businesses and accounts for 70% of Canada’s aerospace R&D expenditures. Its sales totalled $12.1 billion in 2012, with 80% generated by exports. Montréal is the world’s second-ranked aerospace hub in terms of industry job density.